MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, May 7, (AFP): An attack by Boko Haram Islamists in a northeastern Nigerian town on the Cameroon border has killed hundreds of people, a local senator and witnesses said Wednesday. Senator Ahmed Zanna added that the town of Gamboru Ngala had been left unguarded because the soldiers based there to protect the population had been redeployed north towards Lake Chad in an effort to rescue more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram on April 14.

Gunmen riding in armoured vehicles and on motorcycles stormed the town on Monday and razed much of the area. Residents said survivors fled when the attack began, with the insurgents firing on civilians as they tried to run to safety into Cameroon. Casualty figures had remained unclear in the hours after the attack because the town had been overrun by extremist fighters and it was not possible to return to assess the loss of life, witnesses had previously told AFP.